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PARLIAMENT OF STRIX, Pittsburgh independent label and home to experimental hip-hop and electronic artists, is proud to release ‘WHO KILLED THE PAGE WIZURD?’ the debut album by Philadelphia hip-hop artist MR. JHAK.

‘WHO KILLED THE PAGE WIZURD?’ is the debut album by MR. JHAK, a Philly-bred emcee with a vivid comic book inspired imagination. This immersive concept record examines the struggle between good and evil forces within each of us, personifying Jhak’s dark aspects into a shadowy foe known as the Page Wizurd. Only through rapping is Jhak able to first understand the Page Wizurd’s influence over his life, and then attempt to conquer

him.

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The full-length LP contains 16 tracks of Jhak’s vibrant wordplay, matched with a soundtrack of pure MR. OWL production that rides the line between futuristic hip-hop and bass-heavy electronica. The lead single “Stigmatic Disease” is receiving strong underground support, and can be heard now at MrJhak.com or on Soundcloud.

On Tuesday November 24th, ‘WHO KILLED THE PAGE WIZURD?’ will be available for free streaming and name-your-price download at MrJhak.com or on Bandcamp. A limited-edition t-shirt is also available for purchase, featuring original comic style artwork which chronicles the narrative of the album.

Parliament of Strix was founded in 2011 by MR. OWL with a focus on conceptual hip-hop music deeply rooted in both classic boom-bap and experimental electronica. Based in Pittsburgh PA, this independent record label has been generating buzz and gaining steam through releases and collaborations with top-notch underground talent from across the globe.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Jack moved to NYC in April 2012 – around the same time Paris’s Keor had held an online audition via SoundCloud for MCs to feature on a mixtape + subsequent EP. Jack was one of the artists chosen, so with a fresh selection of beats in a pulsating new city and no TV or internet, he wrote 8/9 of the lyrics to “Enter to Exit” (along with a half dozen poems) during his first two months in NY. Since his studio was still in an extra bedroom in Baltimore, he recorded rough demos through his iPhone to send to Keor and thus began the process.

‘PHOTOPHOBIA’ (Parliament of Strix – MR. OWL’s label) is the fourth EP by Jack Wilson, a veteran Pittsburgh poet/ hip-hop artist currently residing in Brooklyn. The term “photophobia” means an extreme sensitivity to bright light. It causes side-effects which can include migraine headaches, from which Wilson himself has suffered since a child.

“I get auras before a migraine,” says Jack, “which start like tiny punctures in your field of vision, like if you’d stared at the sun too long. As a kid, the only relief from these horrible headaches came from Tylenol, a dark room, and a cold cloth. Of the two EPs I’m about to release – the other being ‘ENTER to EXIT’ with Paris producer Keor Meteor – this project is darker, heavier, deeper underground.”

The EP contains 9 tracks culled from 7 different producers, including two tracks from Derek Dumont whose production was also twice featured on Wiz Khalifa’s ‘Taylor Allderdice’ mixtape. Moscow’s Malefique contributes two tracks as well, while Mr. Owl, Reverrb, and Rephrazed (all from Pittsburgh), All These Fingers (Detroit), and Quiet Noise (Wales UK) round out the rest. Mr. Owl’s “Most Mighty” also features Delaware MC Avant-Garde, whom Wilson met in Baltimore where they both lived for a short time. Baltimore is also where most of the tracks on ‘PHOTOPHOBIA’ were actually written.

On Wednesday October 3rd, ‘PHOTOPHOBIA’ will be available to stream free RIGHT HERE at pstrix.com, and for choose-your-price download via Bandcamp. Wilson will be celebrating the release of both of his upcoming EPs on November 1st with Terence Degnan and Stillborn Identity at Goodbye Blue Monday in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

“Earlier this year, I wrote a piece on an excellent hip hop mixtape entitled Consumers Become Producers. It had been some time since I had impressed by a hip hop mixtape and upon hearing Consumers Become Producers, I immediately began following Pittsburgh-based producer Mr. Owl and Brooklyn-via-Pittsburgh MC, Jack Wilson. I didn’t know at the time, but 2012 would be a GREAT year for hip hop. In fact, two of my favorite records released this year – of any genre – have been hip hop records (Killer Mike’s mindblowing R.A.P. Music and EL-P’s Cancer for Cure). So I was quite excited to come across the release of Jack Wilson’s latest pay-what-you-want EP entitled PHOTOPHOBIA on Parliament of Strix Records… I HIGHLY recommend checking out PHOTOPHOBIA and, as it is a “pay-what-you-want” release via Bandcamp, what do you really have to lose?!?”
-JERKSTORE @ SickChirpse.com

On Friday May 4th, Parliament of Strix Records released publicly for the first time the new Mr. Jhak & Mr. Owl t-shirt, featuring hand-drawn artwork by the infamous Pittsburgher Danny Devine. The shirt debuted as part of the Rocking Horse Artspace’s gallery show, along with the text backstory of the character of Mr. Jhak, which originally inspired the artwork. This weekend, our luscious model Amanda J Meiers donned the shirt for a sexy urban photoshoot. Thanks to Amanda, Danny, and Boots Print Crew for making it happen.

Email mrowl@dominantforcepgh.com for orders, we have shirts ready in S / M / L / XL for $15 + shipping. They are high-quality Gildan brand tees, and we will ship to anywhere – if you are in Pittsburgh the shipping is free, as MR. OWL himself will personally deliver your threads.

Bear in mind that as we give all of our music away for free, merchandise is currently our sole source of revenue for the label. Thanks for supporting independent music, and helping us keep it free!

Today Parliament of Strix is leaking for a limited time one track off of the upcoming Mr. Jhak underground hip-hop concept album “Who Killed the Page Wizurd?”, produced by MR. OWL. We are doing this in anticipation of Jhak’s big show tomorrow at the historic Roxy Theater on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, where he will be performing alongside the legendary Devin the Dude!

“Stigmatic Disease” is a track which features samples of Doc Brown & Marty McFly’s run-in with the Libyan terrorists, which strangely enough has become politically relevant again over 25 years after the movie was first released. Enjoy this sneak peek into our new sound of futuristic indie hip-hop!

Great Scott Doc
It’s the mic rock, checker one two
These emcees coagulated rhymes can’t compare to the intensity
Cuz when I wake up
The Stigmatic lines – they drip from me
Mr. Jhak O’Lantern attack – Incredible
Hulk niggas down cuz their rhymes too edible
I feel like a monster
In the booth when I stomp the
White dwarf that morphs to anomalies phenomenal
Like my rhyming
Can’t stand to see a nigga like me shinning
It’s over, you might as well just start miming
Cuz my limericks – Have you staying up all night like a strix
Talking who who who? Who killed me
Slice like a surgeon
Drop bombs on your mind like an insurgent
You’re worthless, get the fuck off my turf, leave you blue like Smurf
You need to dewrinkle like shirt – In the dryer
Anybody say I ain’t hot is a liar
Stigmatic bars got you vomiting desire
Mr. Jhak – One man mother fucking choir

Stigmatic bars long just to be diseased homie please
Living in doubt I hope you be at ease
I damn sure don’t live my life only just to please
Rather squeeze
And infect every soul with my disease

Flow simple threaded
Speaking words unleaded
Worlds get shredded
I feel lightheaded
Ranting and raving won’t get you far
Cuz I see all from my bazaar – Tis bizarre
My infectious reservoir
Keep what you kill, it’s the Nekromonger way
And we all hunger, so it’s me that they pray
And one day the Underverse will sunder
In due time, our take over will chime, then boom like a thunder
It’ll make you wonder – Is it post apocalyptic?
His shit is so cryptic
(Jhak’s hard speech will leech on the dome peice)
Then cease the reach that creep on the lonely
And then, that’s only sin three
So don’t look at me like I don’t know the divine
I slayed the nine – Wizard kings of Heaven
Then pulled out the heart of the beast of seven
Deadly sins and then trashed Lucifer in a bout of violin
Shit man, now stigmata seeps from my skin
Lagging out my mouth as I laugh again
Now they asking Mr. Jhak, damn where you been?
And I simply reply
Jesus is in Heaven

Stigmatic bars long just to be diseased homie please
Living in doubt I hope you be at ease
I damn sure don’t live my life only just to please
Rather squeeze
And infect ever soul with my disease

Na man you can’t rap
Give the mic back
To this Jhak artist
Niggas is straight starving
Like Ethiopia – Call them Marvin
I’m the first pick in a fresh garden
Cuz my rap jargon, sling paradox out the box
Got Hip Hop in a thick knot, won’t stop
Till you niggas are old, dead, withered, and gray
I bring the moon out in day
Na I’m joking man, your boy just rap all silly
Some say demented – And I always gotta put my two cents in it
I’m not the rapper that will rock cars that are rented in a video
I’m the kind that will walk on stage at your show and snatch the mic like
Start coming at your neck like
Hit the deck or get wrecked like Captain Pike
(Silly bitch, you’re weapons cannot harm me!)
So reach for the sky like a palm tree, you pilgrim
I’ll fuck you up like distilled rum
Rebuild your broken hills son
(Alright let me close my mouth before I really kills them)

Mr. Jhak
Tit for fucking tat
Clobber time on the mic
And eat holes through your sweet bars like rats